Toxicity and patient factors were the main reasons why women did not receive treatment recommended in guidelines.From AIDSmap, Michael Carter reports.

The majority of HIV-positive women diagnosed with gynaecological cancer do not receive treatment recommended by cancer guidelines, according to research conducted in the United States and published in AIDS. Women whose care did not match guideline standards had poorer survival compared to women who received the recommended care. Toxicity and patient factors were the main reasons why women did not receive treatment recommended in guidelines.
“To our knowledge, there is no case series de

Please sign this petition calling for GIPA to be acknowledged in HIV research findings

The partnerships forged between people living with HIV and researchers have been an essential foundation upon which the response to the HIV epidemic has grown and the time has come to reaffirm and recommit to principles of inclusion and respect in the conduct of presenting research findings that impacts on our lives.
The early years of the HIV epidemic ushered in a radically different approach to traditional medical and clinical research. Academics and activists held a shared understanding th

From The Conversation, Dennis Altman: "Desire, behaviour and identity are distinct, and do not always overlap."

This article by Dennis Altman prevously appeared at The Conversation, here.
The rise of sexually transmissible diseases made front-page news in The Age, which tried to make sense of the rise among “gay men” and “heterosexual people”.
This illustrates the increasingly common confusion between behaviour and identity. What is involved is sexual contact, or to use the expression common in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, “the exchange of bodily fluids”. Whether people involve

Varenicline (combined with counselling) can clearly help some HIV-positive people to quit smoking. From CATIE, Sean R. Hosein reports.

- People living with HIV are known to be at increased risk for smoking-related illnesses.
- Researchers find varenicline safe and effective at helping people with HIV quit smoking.
- Cessation counsellors who are infectious disease specialists have higher quit rates.
The widespread use of potent HIV treatment (ART) has led to improved measures of health and near-normal life expectancy for many people with HIV in Canada and other high-income countries. However, studies have found that ART us

“Our results show that any detectable viral load between 51 and 999 copies per ml leads to poorer treatment outcomes than successful virological suppression of less than 50 copies per ml,” write the investigators. From AIDSmap, Keith Alcorn reports.

Low-level HIV viral load, above the limit of detection, is an important warning signal for future treatment failure and World Health Organization guidelines on spotting treatment failure need to be revised to encourage greater vigilance and swifter action by healthcare providers in lower- and middle-income settings, investigators report in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The study, carried out by Annemarie Wensing and colleagues at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and University

It has been five years since that day you were attacked and raped and as a result of that rape you were transmitted the HIV virus. On the day you find out that you are HIV-positive you are instantly thrown into a whirlwind of psychological and biological warfare mixed with 24 years of emotional baggage that we should have let go years ago, but nothing fuels a grudge better than anger.
Right now you’re probably somewhere in a hotel room, getting high as a Georgia pine, listening to Erykah B

Bob Leahy on those who stumble on the way to managing one’s health in the manner we are told to, and how he has got used to being a “bad” patient

Colour me bad
When I was diagnosed in 1993, I continued to work for six months, my life virtually unchanged except for a heavy heart and a secret few knew. I had time, though, to ponder the card that fate had dealt me. In 1994 I decided change was in order. So I left work for good, disclosed to everybody in sight and plunged into volunteerism. My first volunteer job involved manning the reception desk at ACT, then called the AIDS Committee of Toronto.
I thrived. During quiet times at the r

Researchers in Toronto conducted a PrEP demonstration project to assess its acceptability, use and effectiveness. From CATIE, Sean R. Hosein reports.

- Researchers interviewed early adopters of PrEP in Toronto about their experience.
- Participants reported that their use of PrEP left them feeling “proud” and “liberated.”
- Stigma and judgment related to PrEP also led some participants to conceal their use of it.
PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) involves taking two anti-HIV medicines in one pill, usually daily, to reduce the chance of getting HIV. PrEP is meant to be used in combination with other HIV prevention approaches, such a

Patrick Ettenes: "Let’s be frank, none of us are wonderful when sick."

Happy 2018 everyone! I trust that everyone had a great New Year celebration without any drama? I laugh, as of course I didn’t and pushing forward, I will discuss that drama one day in the future, after I’m done pulling the pins out of the voodoo doll that represents the individual (smiling ever so cheeky).
So let’s push forward. After my New Year’s I became Ill. The trauma I went through and the partying had a toll on me and of course my body was run down and I became sick. Laying o

From FS Magazine, Hadley Stewart: "Despite having consented to sex, we don’t necessarily make it clear what we’re consenting to. How able do you feel to negotiate in the bedroom?"

If, like me, you’ve never sat down and thought about the term ‘consent’, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it doesn’t really apply to you.
Often we associate the term with the law, meaning that it’s easy to think it’s something that doesn’t form part of our lives unless we’ve been the victim of a crime. A sexual assault, for instance, is often paired up with the notion of consent. So does that mean we’ve never consented to anything or used our power of consent? Probably

Kimutai Kemboi of Kenya offers his best advice for those newly diagnosed with HIV.

So you tested for HIV a few hours, days, weeks, months or years ago and you found out that you are HIV-positive. I know that was the last thing you expected, yet you must have been worried since that day you messed up somewhere or unwillingly/unknowingly got involved in a mess. Don't even burden yourself with thinking of that; it is absolutely not important.
What is important is what you do after getting the facts.
Immediately you saw two lines appearing in that testing kit, your mind went i

Michael Yoder: "We pay a lot of lip service to the equality of people living with HIV, but a lot of times we don't actually practice that vision."

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” Oscar Wilde
I may catch shit for this article, and it's clearly my own personal thoughts and observations, but I believe there's a hierarchy in the HIV "community" and especially among gay men. This is me at my cynical worst, so take that as a warning...
We pay a lot of lip service to the equality of people living with HIV, but a lot of times we don't actually practice that vision. I read an articl

From NAM aidsmap, Roger Pebody reports on two studies, one using long-acting injectables as TasP and one using them as PrEP.

HIV-positive people who took injectable cabotegravir + rilpivirine every four or eight weeks as antiretroviral therapy found it more convenient and discreet than daily pills, also feeling that it eliminated a “daily reminder of living with HIV”, Deanna Kerrigan and colleagues report in PLOS One.
Similarly, HIV-negative men who took injectable cabotegravir every 12 weeks as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) felt that it was probably more convenient and easier to adhere to than dai

Toronto poz guy Dennis Battler: 'Hi Robert To bring you up to date I've attached a "summary" of sorts ... Possibly this review sent to a friend could be manipulated into an article. Today's word is "painting." Happy new year.

Hello Sheila,
To respond to your email thoroughly (I believe you appreciate detail as much as I) I’m sending along a reply I wrote to Eric whom I worked with at Of Things Past. Eric also had a Whippet, Hudson, whom Shanti visited with. One day a week for a year when I set up the Rosedale store, Hudson and Shanti were canine staples there with many fans. Eric kindly sent this email:
“Greetings Dennis. I wanted to reach out and send along well wishes for the holidays. I know how challen